United CEO says no one will be fired for dragging incident

Air Canada passenger plane Rick Rycroft AP

Nellie Chapman
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19 April, 2017, 01:42

The couple was able to rebook another flight for Sunday and the wedding is still planned for Thursday. When they approached their assigned seats, the said, the found a man lying asleep across that entire set of three seats in the row. Not wanting to wake them, they made a decision to try moving to another row, as the plane was reportedly half empty.

Unfortunately for them, the unassigned jump from row 24 to 21 meant they were now sitting in an upgraded "economy plus" area.

But apparently the seats they chose were economy-plus seats, and a higher price point than they seats they paid for.

When asked by a flight attendant if they were in their ticketed seats the couple said no and according to Hohl explained the situation and asked if they could get an upgrade. Hohl said they complied with this request, but a U.S. Marshall eventually came and told the couple to get off the plane.

But United released the following statement to Houston-based KHOU saying the couple refused to listen to the flight crew.

In a statement, United Airlines said the couple repeatedly tried to sit in the "economy plus" seats.

Hohl and Maxwell-both of whom live in Utah-boarded a flight Saturday that would take them to Costa Rica, where they are set to marry this week.

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They got off the plane, but they're still trying to understand why. Munoz repeated his apology Tuesday to Dao, other passengers on the flight and the rest of the airline's customers.

Following the ordeal, Hohl and Maxwell were rebooked the next morning but claimed they would not be flying with United Airlines anymore. When they asked if they could upgrade, she allegedly denied them, and told them to move back.

"I think customer service and the airlines has gone real downhill", the groom said.

Shares of United Airlines parent United Continental Holdings Inc. climbed 0.6% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the air carrier extended its streak of earnings beats to five quarters.

The head of United Airlines met with the Chinese consulate in Chicago over the possible impact to bookings from a customer being dragged off a plane but it was too early to tell if business in China had been hit by the event, the company said.